That's great that you got such good results with HBOT! ...... So I 100% agree with you, that sounds like an awesome alternative to drugs, I just don't know how accessible it is in general.
Hi
@carolinet617 -- Just to mention, a guy on another forum I often visit wrote
THIS POST in which he questioned whether just breathing in oxygen from an oxygen concentrator might be as effective as an mHBOT chamber. I've used my chamber regularly for several months now, and have gotten a pretty good sense of what to expect when I go in. It's been on my mind to try just the oxygen concentrator without the pressure, to see if this guy's hypothesis has any merit. It would certainly be a much cheaper alternative if it was--though I have my doubts.
I will push back on what you wrote in bold ... IMHO you should not be suggesting mHBOT in replacement of a benzo when a person is at the brink.
@John Mahan -- Wow, kind of surprised by your reaction(s). Your words "push back" seems to imply that I was "pushing" something to begin with. That's certainly not my intent, and would go against my the purpose of most of my writing on this forum; which is to provide information that I think "might" be relevant to people who I would expect would read it. In my post, I tagged
@carolinet617 specifically. In her reply, I didn't get any sense whatsoever she felt I was pushing anything on her.
Regarding your objections to the following that I wrote:
I can't help but think that if people who are considering suicide would give this a try, it might not only give them a viable option to suicide, but could also forestall or eliminate the need to even consider benzodiazapines.
I'll try to break it down a bit, and hopefully address your concerns: My breakdown would be:
I can't help but think it [HBOT] "might" forestall or eliminate the need to even consider benzodiazapines.
I wrote this from my own experience. In the first weeks following my tinnitus onset, I was trying desperately to cope with the devastating effects of the drug I was given, which was WAY more than the blaring tinnitus. I did talk to my doctor about getting a prescription for valium, which I had used in the past. He suggested Lorazapam, which had a shorter half life, and which he thought would be a better option.
So he gave me a prescription for the lowest dose possible (1 mg), and I tried a 1/4 tablet. I decided to lay down, and see if I could get some desperately needed sleep. I did fall asleep, and about a half hour later was awakened by having a mini-seizure. I told my pharmacist what had happened, and he somewhat angrily said that's not possible. But I did an online search, and discovered that not only is it possible, but it does happen.
In the following weeks, I managed to try both a soft chamber mHBOT unit, and a hard chamber one as well. Both of these not only gave me extraordinary relief from my abject misery caused by my tinnitus, but gave me tremendous relief from my badly battered psyche as well. A truly life-altering development and relevation. Why would I
not want to share this on a forum (especially a thread on suicide) where people are going through similarly devastating times as I was?
Realizing I would probably want and/or need this therapy for the rest of my life, I decided to look into purchasing my own home unit. I did finally purchase one several months later. But during those intervening months, I did get some valium, and occasionally took about .25 mg (about 1/10 the strength of Clonazepam), which took the edge off of my tinnitus when things could become too intense.
Caroline's position mirrors linearb's position which mirrors mine and even Michael's. The difference is...Michael and myself are able to manage our tinnitus on much lower dosage and I even question Michael's dosage but never his motive for taking Clonazepam as needed when the walls start closing in...or yours.
I'm truly puzzled by your above comments. You seem to think I hold a view different from yours, Carolines, Linearb's, and Michael's when it comes to the judicious use of benzdiazapines. My views are in fact, almost identical, and I "liked" or "agreed" with them literally everytime they succinctly shared how they carefully and thoughtfully use their benzodiazapine meds. Benzos do have their place, and I would never suggest otherwise.
But I would not play a medical doctor
Wow, quite a quip. All I try to do is share what works for me. I (honestly) try to do it in a way that emphasizes how well it worked for
me and/or others. I don't believe I ever "push" anything on anybody, and I
certainly don't try to "play medical doctor". I try to treat people as respectfully as I can, so that they
don't think I'm pushing anything on them. My own philosophy is that once a person starts feeling something is being pushed on them, they usually begin to tighten up and not want to hear much more. I have no interest in doing that.
What I try to do would be along the lines of saying, "You may want to consider this". Literally everything I mention is meant to be a "starting point" for somebody who might have an interest in following up on what I've shared. Not many people do that, and I recently got to the point where I was about ready to quit frequenting the forum. It wasn't until I got a PM from
@Star64 saying how much she appreciated my meaningful posts that I decided to stick around. I know my perpsectives will not win a lot of popularity contests, but for somebody who prefers to look outside of conventional approaches to health care, I feel I can offer a number of starting points for them.
So John, how does a person find a balance between sharing what works for them, without coming across as trying to push something? Given your reaction, it makes me think I've yet to find it. And it again makes me wonder whether I should even continue to post here. -- It's seeming it may be about time to at least exit this thread, as those who are currently having the most difficulty don't seem particularly interested in what I'm writing. Even though I'm coming from a place of having a long history of suicidal ideation myself. -- I wrote about it fairly extensivly in
THIS POST, in case anybody's interested.